What is happening to Lamont now is Swift-boating, pure and simple.
The push by Lieberman and Republicans to cast Lamont as anti-security, and even pro-terrorist is a strategy they have tried before. It worked for them in 2002 - think Max Cleland, etc. And it worked against Kerry in 2004 - not just regarding his military service but the overwhleming message from Cheney, Zell Miller, all of them - that a Kerry victory would be greated positively by terrorists.
As we know, an attack of this type MUST be countered or it will start to be effective.
So what should Lamont do?
Lamont must mount an strong critique of Lieberman on national security.
He should make the point that the war on Iraq has weakened the U.S., not helped it. Most Americans already believe this, but Democrats have been afraid to make this case as strongly as they should.
He should call out Lieberman on his failures as a leader on the Homeland Security committee, such as putting Michael Brown in charge of FEMA.
And Lamont has to do this right away, or else some people will believe he represents what Lieberman called the "anti-security" wing of the Democratic party.
This will help his campaign and the campaign of nearly every Democratic candidate.
We can't say, oh people will see through this. A lot of folks didn't before - and this got Bush and his crew elected.